Osram Rallye 70/65 H4 Life Span

[Lightdoctor]

I installed these 4 months ago and one has already failed. I only drive my rig on weekends so they don't get alot of running hours especially this time of year. Is this normal? I've also installed a relayed harness, so now I'm getting anywhere from 13.8 to 14.0 volts at the headlights...is this the cause?

Thanks

[Gregozedobe]

I've replaced both of mine (Lo beam) recently. IIRC I got about 40,000Km with a fair portion of that with the lights on (I do a lot of night driving and I also switch my lights on during the day as well).

[Qship1996]

I installed these 4 months ago and one has already failed. I only drive my rig on weekends so they don't get alot of running hours especially this time of year. Is this normal? I've also installed a relayed harness, so now I'm getting anywhere from 13.8 to 14.0 volts at the headlights...is this the cause?

Thanks

Define "Rig" .....are you referring to a typical passenger car, or an off road type vehicle subject to the extra shock and vibration of off road driving? The higher voltage shortens life considerably, in exchange for burning brighter. I got 2 years & 50K of driving on my last set of osram 70/65 { without any external harness}.....since then have switched to osram 85/80 with a harness so I expect much shorter lifespan in exchange for brighter lights.

[Lightdoctor]

I've been running mine in the day too, due to foggy/gloomy weather (I live by the cold North Pacific)...didn't think that the hours would be reduced so much.

I drive a small truck and it doesn't go offroad.

Update: Took out the lamps and the one that was still good appears to have plenty more hours left on the low beam filament. The failure maybe do to defects in construction. Life of any lamp is based on averages...as to when 50% fail under test.

[Scheinwerfermann]

I've been running mine in the day too, due to foggy/gloomy weather

You might want to stop burning up expensive headlight bulb hours and put in a turn signal DRL module (link goes to the one I've used; I've seen others on the market too but at much higher price)

Life of any lamp is based on averages...as to when 50% fail under test.

Actually, the two life ratings most often used in the automotive field are B3 (the point at which 3% of a test batch has failed) and Tc (the point at which 63.2% of a test batch has failed). The former number speaks of build quality; the latter of durability.

The 70/65w Osram bulb has rather short rated lifespan (Tc) but I "forgive" it because it really hits a sweet spot in terms of output (flux) and beam focus for nightly-driver use.

[dmk9561]

I don't get more than about 5-6 months out of them before a low beam burns out. My car does not have DRL, but I could probably go longer if I turned off the automatic headlights that burn them when starting in the dark. I'm not terribly concerned about it, really. I'm happy with the light from them and I like the lighted exit feature, so I'll just keep paying for them.

[Qship1996]

I don't get more than about 5-6 months out of them before a low beam burns out. My car does not have DRL, but I could probably go longer if I turned off the automatic headlights that burn them when starting in the dark. I'm not terribly concerned about it, really. I'm happy with the light from them and I like the lighted exit feature, so I'll just keep paying for them.

I wish people would stop saying "I only got X amount of months life out of a bulb"......bulbs are rated in hours burned, not in time since installation- some drive 500 miles/ month with 5 hours per month with the lights on, others 2500 miles per month with 100 hours of lights burning per month......estimate total hours of burning the bulb, not months from initial installation- it tells us much more.

[Alaric Darconville]

Actually, it can tell you more than you might think it does, else your question about the type of vehicle and driving wouldn't have made much sense. Vibration can damage a bulb even if it's not lit, and if the bulb is too loose in the socket it can bang around more than if it fits snugly.

[Lightdoctor]

Thanks for the info SWM, I was thinking about the turn signal DRL setup...also have seen LED DRL's from Philips...anyone tryed those?

[Alaric Darconville]

also have seen LED DRL's from Philips...anyone tryed those?

I always cringe just a little when I hear the question "anyone tried X?", because vehicle lighting is more complicated than taking the Pepsi® Challenge (does anyone remember that?).

In the case of the Philips DRLs, the product page does say it's ECE R87 homologated, so perhaps it's not as bad as a JC Whitney Special.

As DRLs aren't even required in the US, I'm not sure I'd bother to have the DRL function at all, but were I to add it to a vehicle, I'd be more inclined to do the turn-signal DRL.

[Qship1996]

Actually, it can tell you more than you might think it does, else your question about the type of vehicle and driving wouldn't have made much sense. Vibration can damage a bulb even if it's not lit, and if the bulb is too loose in the socket it can bang around more than if it fits snugly.

True, but length of time only since installation reports do not identify the variables in your above quote, so we are back to trying to gather total time of actual bulb burning, and then type of vehicle and its particular usage patterns {off road,etc}to gain some insite on what extra stresses the bulb is asked to endure. the total time since installation remains a highly unreliable indicator of lifespan.....some may only actually drive their vehicles 100 miles a month while others, 2500 per month......without knowing that, we are left with very little information.

[Scheinwerfermann]

There are some very good LED DRLs on the aftermarket -- Hella, Philips, Valeo are the ones I've seen and evaluated. There's also a great deal of rubbish from the People's Republic of Somewhere Over The Rainbow. If money weren't a factor and neither were mounting space, I'd pick out one of the dual-function LED DRLs (the kind that dim down to parking light intensity when you move the headlight switch to the first click) from one of the reputable makers. But they are expensive, so on a vehicle with front turn signals bright enough to serve the DRL function I'd probably be inclined to put in the turn signal DRL module and call it good. Remember that North American regs permit front turn signals to emit, at minimum, 200 candela on axis (depending on distance from the low beam headlamp), while DRLs are required to emit at least 500 candela on axis, so not all front turn signals technically qualify as DRLs just because they're activated in a steady-burning mode. But this is kind of getting off the topic of the thread...

[Lightdoctor]

I know that this thread is old; but does someone out there have the rated life-hours of this Osram rallye H4 lamp? Thanks.

[Qship1996]

A few years ago, it was listed on Osrams site {since disappeared}. If I recall correctly, it was 350-400 hours low beam mode and 150 hours on high beam. If you search this site, I posted about it after seeing it. Keep in mind, those posted hours were calculated at a specific voltage, and if one is running heavy duty wiring/relays, it is easy to surpass the rated life voltage and significantly shorten the bulbs life.

[Scheinwerfermann]

Rated lifespan on that bulb is fairly short: 150/150 hours (high/low beam) at 13.2v. That's from the one and only Osram catalog I have that lists it, dated 2002; the lifespan and lumen ratings were removed from the subsequent catalogs, though the existence of the bulb was still catalogged. It's an excellent all-around performer, but its effective lifespan is definitely at the short end of "reasonable", and is closely grouped with the highest-performing 60/55w bulbs (Philips Xtreme Power and Xtreme Vision, Osram Night Breaker/Plus). The Osram 85/80w bulb is beyond the line in the sand I would draw past which the lifespan can't be considered reasonable.

The Osram 70/65w bulb reminds me of the little-known Philips 12639 "Turbo" 60/55w bulb of the late 1990s. It had red rather than black/gray blacktop and performance characteristics similar to the Osram 70/65w bulb. Lifespan was similarly short, too. Looks as if Philips has recycled the 12639 number for a blue H4 being sold in the Asian-Pacific Islands markets under the "Diamaster" brand. Another bulb that comes to mind is the Philips 12549, which was a nominal 80/70w item. I only saw these in "gold" (dichroic yellow), part number 12549GO. Never in clear. That number, too, appears to have been repurposed for a different H4 now.

Looks as if Flosser has an 80/70w H4, but I'm not sure what the output, actual power, and lifespan might be.

[Qship1996]

Osram still lists lumen output for their rally bulbs, they just make it difficult to find! See here http://catalog.myosram.com/zb2b/b2b/...browserminor=5

[Scheinwerfermann]

The site doesn't allow direct linking, but I did find the lumen ratings by entering the Osram bulb number (64205). Still no lifespan rating, though!